Open Letter to Florsheim

Florsheim Group, Inc.
200 North La Salle
Chicago, IL 60601

To the Director of Public Relations:

The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) has found several factual errors and inaccuracies in Florsheim Group Inc.'s MagneForce® marketing literature. CSICOP respectfully requests that you remove these errors from your literature.

Several of the statements Florsheim Group makes on its Web site (www.florsheim.com/html/magneforce_frame.htm) and in its e-mail form response (enclosed) regarding magnet therapy are based on unproven claims-and in many cases they are false. A point-by-point explanation of exactly where CSICOP finds these misleading claims in your literature is enclosed.

CSICOP is confident that a respected corporation such as the Florsheim Group will be eager to remove inaccurate or false information from its advertising and marketing literature. CSICOP respectfully requests that Florsheim Group live up to its reputation as a quality footwear manufacturer and remove all erroneous and unproven claims regarding magnet therapy from all of its MagneForce literature.

CSICOP is a nonprofit organization comprised of a network of distinguished international scientists, academics, and members of the media concerned with the balanced portrayal of science in the media and in advertising. Members of CSICOP include Stephen Jay Gould, Martin Gardner, Steve Allen and Sir John Maddox.

CSICOP hopes you will act promptly on our request. We will be posting this letter on our web site at www.csicop.org. We welcome your written response: if you submit it to CSICOP by e-mail to SIKevinC@aol.com, we will promptly post your statement on our web site. All other correspondence in regard to our request should be directed to Kevin Christopher, Public Relations Director, CSICOP, P.O. Box 703, Amherst, NY 14228.

Sincerely,

Professor Paul Kurtz, Chairman, CSICOP

Joe Nickell, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, CSICOP

Lewis Vaughn, Executive Editor, The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine

Kevin Christopher, Public Relations Director, CSICOP

Enclosures

CSICOP'S RESPONSE TO INACCURACIES AND FALSEHOODS IN FLORSHEIM'S MAGNET THERAPY LITERATURE

1. EXCERPTS FROM FLORSHEIM'S "ABOUT MAGNETS AND MAGNET THERAPY" E-MAIL INQUIRY FORM RESPONSE (see item "A") QUOTED, WITH REBUTTALS FROM CSICOP

   "Magnetism represents one of the most basic powers in the universe. This force keeps order in the galaxy, allowing the stars and planets to spin at significant velocities. The earth itself is a giant magnet, with north and south poles and a hot liquid core. The hot liquid core creates a magnetic field which at the earth's surface is relatively weak, but serves to keep humans attached to the earth's surface. Without this magnetic field, we would spin into outer space. All of earth's living organisms have evolved in this magnetic field."

   Yes, the (electro-)magnetic force is one of the most basic physical forces, and Earth does generate a weak magnetic field in which life has evolved, but the rest of the statements in this paragraph are false. Gravity, not electromagnetic force, is what allows the planets to spin without flying apart and gravity is what holds humans on Earth. Magnetism and the magnetic field of our planet are responsible for none of the astrophysical effects described above.

   "The use of magnets for healing has been traced to the cultures of ancient Greece, Egypt, China, India and others. Aristotle was the first person in recorded history to note their therapeutic properties. Hippocrates, father of medicine, also noted the healing power of magnets, and Cleopatra frequently adorned herself with magnetic jewelry to preserve her youth. Long before the existence of any known writings, a well-developed system of medicine existed in China based on the premise that health depended on the circulation of vital energies in the body through prescribed pathways. Chinese medicine describes qi, which is partially generated by earth's magnetic field, as the body's internal strength."

   Neither the Ancient Chinese nor the Egyptians ascribed any medical properties to magnets(1). Regardless, the fact that a belief has been held for a long time or in several cultures has absolutely no bearing on whether it is true or false-people believed that Earth was flat for millennia. This certainly applies to the belief in the healing power of magnets.

   "In the 1950s, Robert Becker, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon, concluded in his studies that an injury to the body creates a positively-charged tissue effect. Dr. Becker found that no healing occurred until the polarity was naturally reversed to negative. This discovery led some physicians to the application of a negative magnetic field to boost the body's natural healing process. Becker's considerable research contributed much to the expanded use and understanding of magnets in healing."

   Magnetic fields are neither positive nor negative, so there is no such thing as a "negative magnetic field." The physical property of polarity has absolutely nothing to do with positive or negative charge. In short, this account of magnet therapy research is entirely nonsense.

   • "In the 1900s scientists in America and other countries began an earnest study of magnetic therapy and documented numerous instances of their effectiveness in healing and pain relief.

   • "India, since 1950, has been treating common ailments at magnetic therapy clinics. In 1961, the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare began licensing magnetic products for therapeutic use.

   • "In the latter half of the 1900s, numerous scientific journals reported the effectiveness of using magnetic fields in healing, including programs for the astronauts. 90-95% of health problems astronauts experienced after early space flights were eliminated when magnets were put in space suits and space capsules to counter the effects of traveling outside the earth's magnetic field.

   "Today many physicians, medical researchers and scientists, including those associated with Baylor University, Vanderbilt University and others, continue to study and document the effects of magnetic therapy on a diverse array of human ailments."

   The claim that astronauts' health problems were cured by magnets inserted into their space suits is false. The only role Earth's magnetic field plays in human health is shielding human beings on the ground from lethal particles from the Sun. Unfortunately, magnets woven into a space suit would not offer the same protection.

   The fact is that clinical trials-when conducted scientifically-continually fail to find any effect of magnets on the body. The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study in March 2000(2) that found magnets had no effect whatsoever on back pain or range of motion. Also, it should be of direct interest to Florsheim Group that a clinical trial published in the January 1997 Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association (3) also failed to find any therapeutic effect from magnetic insoles.

2. EXCERPTS FROM FLORSHEIM'S WEBSITE QUOTED (see item "B"), WITH REBUTTALS FROM CSICOP

   "The unipolar magnet emits a magnetic field from its edge which encircles the foot and penetrates to a depth of two inches."

   The term "unipolar" is misleading. In magnet therapy jargon, "unipolar" simply means that one pole on a bipolar magnet is facing the body. All magnets currently known to physicists and materials scientists are bipolar, i.e. they have two poles. Physicists have been looking for monopole magnets, but have yet to discover them.

   "Research indicates that in general, magnetic therapy works because of the electromagnetic nature of the body. Functionally, according to biomagnetic researchers, the brain generates an electromagnetic current that controls every motor and sensory response in our body. Every cell in our body consists of electrically charged particles that are either positive or negative ions. All are directly affected by exposure to external magnetic fields."

   The body is filled with positive and negative ions (such as the sodium and chlorine ions in salt), and there is something called the Hall effect that affects the movement of ions in a magnetic field. However, the effects of magnets on the ions in the human body are almost nonexistent. For example, the movement of an ion in reaction to a 250 gauss magnet is about 2/10ths of an Angstrom per second. To put that in perspective, the diameter of an atom is about 2 whole Angstroms. The movement of ions due to blood circulation and our body heat is millions of times stronger that any force created by a magnet! (4)

   These claims also leave us wondering why people undergoing MRI scans are routinely exposed to magnets of 50,000 gauss (100 times the strength of magnets typically used in magnet therapy), with no measurable effects on health.

   "Magnets generate a magnetic field that penetrates the skin, tissue and bones. Studies show this increases blood flow, thus enhancing the body's circulation and stimulating the body's healing process. The improved circulation has been shown to bring in oxygen and nutrients."

   Body tissues are nonmagnetic; in fact, when exposed to a magnetic field they actually become diamagnetic (i.e., repulsed by magnetic force). Scientific test and controlled clinical study have not demonstrated an increase in blood flow due to magnets.

   "Magnetic fields have also been shown to normalize the body's pH, the acid/alkaline balance which creates an internal environment conducive to good health. While magnetic therapy is not effective on everyone, most studies indicate many individuals have benefited from this non-invasive approach to healing."

   The claim that a magnetic field can influence pH is false. pH is a measure of a substance's acidity or alkalinity: Magnetism is a force that has absolutely no effect on the balance of acids and alkalines. If magnetism did actually influence pH, it would be impossible to maintain batteries (which contain strong acids like sulfuric acid) near electric motors or electric generators (which contain strong magnets).

   "Magnetic deficiencies* Physicists estimate that because the earth has lost some of its electromagnetic field over the past 4,000 years, it is possible that some of us suffer from a magnetic deficiency."

   Who are the physicists who estimate a loss in the electromagnetic field over 4,000 years? The fact is that the strength of Earth's magnetic field varies significantly all over the planet, ranging from 0.6 gauss at the poles down to 0.3 gauss at the equator. There is no single strength to our planet's magnetic field. If the magnetic field did influence human health there should be a correlation between health statistics and variations in the magnetic field. The fact is that there is none.

1. "Biomagnetic Pseudoscience and Nonsense Claims," Miguel Sabadell Skeptical Inquirer, Vol. 22, No. 4.

2. "Bipolar permanent magnets for the treatment of chronic low back pain: a pilot study," Collacott, Zimmerman, White, and Rindone JAMA March 8, 2000; 283 (10): 1322-5.

3. "Evaluation of magnetic foil and PPT Insoles in the treatment of heel pain," Caselli, Clark, Lazarus, Velez, Venegas "Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association January 1997; 87 (1): 11-6.

4. "Magnetic and Electromagnetic Therapy," David W. Ramey, The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine Spring/Summer 1998.

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